Getting to Work

Chapter 12

Li Qingqing only remembered that she was nearly dying from the pain.

It hurt so much. How could it hurt this much?

Her earliest memories were of pain, a heart-piercing pain. She was small then, and she remembered that she could barely walk steadily at the time.

Back then, she didn’t understand why they were holding her down and chopping off one of her toes. It was only when she grew older that she understood. Because the family wanted to have a son, they had applied for a disability certificate¹ for her. At that time, the authorities said there were too many disability certificates in their village and were coming to investigate. So, they had to chop off one of her toes to make her truly disabled, otherwise they would have to pay a fine.

In the end, no one ever came to check, but her big toe was gone.

She vaguely remembered the pain from that time. It was a cold, icy kind of pain. Every time she saw the family’s axe afterward, she would see that pain again.

But this time, her entire back felt like it was on fire. Every breath felt like it was tearing at her flesh. At first, she was in so much pain that she couldn’t close her eyes, but then she began to run a fever and felt dizzy, unable to keep them open.

Her consciousness was boiled into a pot of hot porridge by her body’s high temperature. She felt like she was going to die.

Li Qingqing was only eighteen this year. Her life had grown in these barren mountains like the trees here. Because it was too desolate, she had to constantly push her roots deeper, struggling every day just to stay alive.

The young girl had spent most of her life working hard just to eat her fill. There were very few things in her mind.

She and Wu Jie had only been married for a short time. The two of them had a home together. The pigsty at home hadn’t even been repaired yet, but she was happy in her heart. She had a home of her own. Wu Jie had some minor flaws, but Wu Jie was different from her parents and grandparents.

Wu Jie wouldn’t hit or scold her at the drop of a hat. He wouldn’t demand she kneel just because she said one wrong word. He wouldn’t sit around the house with a long face, throwing fits and cursing people from morning till night.

In her home with Wu Jie, she felt relaxed and free. Her life had only just begun.

This year, the young couple had also been allocated their own plots of land. The crops in the field hadn’t been harvested yet, but once they were brought in, they would belong to the two of them. A few months ago, when it was time to slaughter the New Year pig, she was no longer just someone following along to help. She and Wu Jie were the heads of the household. They hired people to slaughter the pig during the day, and at night, the couple looked at the pork in the house and could hardly sleep. So much pork, and it all belonged to them.

In the past, her mother would scold her if she used an extra spoonful of oil while cooking. That night, the couple had cut off a large piece of meat and cooked lard rice.

That was the best lard rice she had ever eaten in her life.

This was a completely different life from the past, where she worked herself to death and couldn’t eat the harvested grain as she pleased, where she would be beaten for sneaking even a little bit of food.

She liked her life now.

But now she was going to die. Her heart truly felt miserable. She still had so many good days ahead of her that she hadn’t lived yet. How could she be dying?

She thought back to when she was a child. When her big toe was chopped off, she remembered her mother holding her, holding her tight, begging the Immortal Lady for forgiveness, begging the Immortal Lady for protection…

Her consciousness was down to a single thread, trembling and flickering as if it would snap at any moment.

Everything in her mind began to vanish. Her parents, her brother, Wu Jie, the two pigs at home, the four ducks, and the six chickens all grew blurry.

But the scene of her mother holding her and praying to the Immortal Lady became clearer and clearer.

She began to pray for the Immortal Lady’s protection, praying that she would get well soon.

“Immortal Lady protect me, Immortal Lady protect me…”

Before losing consciousness, she remained obsessed with begging the Immortal Lady to save her.

When she regained consciousness again, her back felt cool. There was no pain. She felt as if she were wrapped in newly harvested autumn cotton. It was comfortable, very comfortable. Her head didn’t ache anymore either. The places in her mind that had been throbbing with pain, as if tied in knots, now felt as though they had been gently smoothed out.

She could feel something touching her forehead. The touch was cool and soft.

She really wanted to move.

Just as she was about to stir, a voice reached her ears.

“#☆@…”

She didn’t understand what the other person was saying, but the voice was as cool as mountain spring water and very pleasant to hear.

Lying on her stomach, she lifted her eyes to find the person speaking.

Under the light of the kerosene lamp, a clean, full face was looking at her.

“@##☆~…#” The person spoke again.

Li Qingqing couldn’t understand the other person. She stared blankly, forgetting how to speak.

How could such a person exist in this world? Li Qingqing had no education; she only felt as if she had returned to her childhood, back into her mother’s embrace…

Li Qingqing was completely dazed.

Suddenly, a head popped over from the side. This time it was someone she knew. It was Sha Niu. Sha Niu’s eyes were swollen like almonds from crying for so long. Now, because she was so happy, her swollen eyes crinkled into slits as she smiled.

“Qingqing! You’re awake! You’ve come back to life!” Sha Niu always said whatever was on her mind. “They all said you were going to die. I called the Immortal Lady to come and save you!”

Sha Niu spoke with great excitement, clearly looking for credit!

So, she had survived?

Li Qingqing’s eyes remained fixed on the stranger. Ignoring the joy of having survived, she asked Sha Niu, “Who is she?”

“The Immortal Lady!”

The Immortal Lady? Li Qingqing remembered that Sha Niu had always called that university student Trafficked Bride the “Immortal Lady.”

Was this her? She had wanted to see her before, and now she finally had.

At that moment, the university student gave her another injection.

It hurt a little, but the pain Li Qingqing had experienced before was so severe that this pain felt like nothing more than an ant sting.

She had been to the town and seen the doctors and nurses there. This person gave her a similar feeling.

Then, Li Qingqing saw the person say something else to Sha Niu.

Li Qingqing had never learned Mandarin. She had gone to the village school with the other children, but back then, the teacher at the village school spoke the local dialect. However, she knew that people from the outside spoke Mandarin.

At this moment, she watched Ming Wen, her ears straining to catch the sound of their voices.

Sha Niu was also listening intently, looking over at Li Qingqing from time to time and nodding. She nodded with great exaggerated movements, the way a child does in front of an adult.

Li Qingqing could only look at Sha Niu, hoping the girl would tell her what they were saying.

Fortunately, Sha Niu was honest. After listening to her Immortal Lady, she immediately spoke to Li Qingqing in the local dialect: [The Immortal Lady says for you not to move. She also asked if you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Are you thirsty?]

Li Qingqing answered quickly: [I’m a little thirsty, and my back is a bit itchy.]

After she mentioned the itch, Sha Niu’s Immortal Lady said something else, peeled back the gauze on her back, and applied medicine.

The spot that had been itching slowly lost all sensation.

Li Qingqing still couldn’t understand the words. She felt like tugging on her own ears in frustration. Why couldn’t she understand!

Fortunately, for the next three days, this person came to clean her wounds every day and ate meals at her house.

Every time the woman arrived, Li Qingqing couldn’t help but stare at her. She realized the woman was very tall, taller than any other woman in the village. Not only that, there was a very special feeling about her.

Li Qingqing finally learned that her name was Ming Wen and that she was a doctor from the city. Li Qingqing didn’t understand how such a good person ended up here; she felt the woman deserved the best man in the world.

How could someone like Madman Zhang be worthy of such a wonderful person?

Li Qingqing had lived here since childhood. To her, the presence of a Trafficked Bride in the village was as common as the sun rising in the east. It was a normal occurrence. Furthermore, because of the language barrier and the fact that parents forbade them from speaking to these Outsider Wives since they were young, Li Qingqing didn’t truly understand what had happened to these women.

At that time, civilization was too far away from this mountain girl. She simply liked Ming Wen instinctively, without knowing the tragedy Ming Wen had endured.

The next time Ming Wen came, Sha Niu was in the room teaching Li Qingqing how to speak Mandarin.

[Not like that! Read it with me!] Sha Niu spoke in the local dialect first, then said, “Thank you for saving me.”

Ming Wen did not disturb them.

On the other side, Sha Niu’s mother had originally thought Ming Wen would use this incident to achieve something.

For example, asking Li Qingqing’s family for help to escape.

However, she did nothing of the sort. She simply cleaned Li Qingqing’s wounds every day. In the following days, she didn’t even let Sha Niu carry her. There was still a distance between Li Qingqing’s house and the Zhang Family’s home, and she let Sha Niu support her as they walked back slowly.

Anyone could see the unhealed wounds on her face and understand her plight.

Surprisingly, the Zhang Family members soon underwent a massive change. Previously, they were like firecrackers, exploding at the slightest touch, but that was gone now. They either worked on the mountain or sat to one side in a daze. Most strangely of all, Sha Niu’s mother had actually seen Madman Zhang crying one afternoon.

Ming Wen was no longer locked up. Sha Niu’s mother had originally intended to use this opportunity to convince them to release her, but she hadn’t expected them to let her out on their own.

But when Ming Wen spoke, they couldn’t understand her. How did they come to this realization? It was truly baffling.

Ming Wen didn’t know what Sha Niu’s mother was thinking. She had simply gained a small degree of freedom; she could walk out of the room and was no longer confined.

But she had to work despite her crippled leg.

The main reason she was released was that the Zhang Family members lacked physical strength. It was as if the energy in their bodies had been drained away; they couldn’t find the strength to do anything.

Regarding the plot of land by the door, Mother Zhang wanted to plant vegetables, so she ordered Ming Wen to weed and turn the soil.

Mother Zhang took it for granted that everyone knew how to do farm work.

A city person? Did city people not plant crops?

Ming Wen watched as the woman tossed a hoe at her and chattered a long string of words while pointing at the ground by the door. She understood the gist of it.

Farming.

Ming Wen’s leg couldn’t handle standing for long, so she took a stool, placed it in the field, and sat there slowly digging the earth.

Sha Niu soon came to find her. This combination of the Immortal Lady and her foolish girl follower dawdled in the field, failing to finish the digging even after half a day.

The work had to continue the next morning.

Ming Wen’s days of digging did not last long.

On the third morning, Sha Niu’s mother came to find her.

People here relied on social circles; they liked to have acquaintances speak for them in all matters.

Someone wanted Ming Wen’s help, but since Ming Wen wasn’t familiar with anyone, they went to Sha Niu’s mother first so she could approach Ming Wen.

“You’re close to her, go talk to her. My grandson has a stomachache and is breaking out in a cold sweat. Can she take a look?” The person speaking was the Village Chief’s wife.

As she spoke, she added, “After what happened with Li Qingqing, everyone knows she’s better than a regular doctor. If she treats a few more people, life in the village will be easier for her.”

Sha Niu’s mother remained silent, so the other woman added, “It was my husband who went to talk to the Zhang Family earlier, telling them not to keep a doctor locked up.”

Sha Niu’s mother was stunned. Life in the village would be easier?

Ming Wen, this university student—if her life became easy in the village, would she still be willing to escape?

Yes, Ming Wen was a doctor, and the village now knew how important a doctor was. Only now did she realize that the Zhang Family had released her because the Village Chief had intervened.

She was a doctor. Once she found her place here, would she still want to run away? But what about Sha Niu?

Sha Niu’s mother didn’t know what to do. But with the Village Chief’s wife still watching her, she walked toward the Zhang Family home. Whether or not to relay the message was her choice, as the Village Chief’s wife couldn’t speak Mandarin anyway.

When Sha Niu’s mother saw the person working in the field, she was sitting there under the sunlight, slowly digging the soil with her hoe.

She didn’t belong here. She really looked like a deity from the heavens, descending to the mortal world while Undergoing Tribulation.

Perhaps humanity’s awe of the divine is innate. Seeing this scene, anyone with a soul would feel a pang of sorrow at seeing such an immortal fall into this hell.

Sha Niu’s mother spoke up instinctively, “Ming Wen, the Village Chief’s grandson has a stomachache, and they want you to go take a look at him.”

Translator’s Notes